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cable dielectric cause of artificial sound

Hi folks, I would like to know what your opinion is about the following issue. About 90% of high-end cable manufacturers use PTFE as dielectric. Many of their cables sound much alike and they have a few of these characteristics in common: clean, relaxed and laid back sound but at the same time very dynamic (though a bit artificially), very quiet ("black background"), very good (also artificially) left/right separation. But I think albeit these traits, they tend to sound "technicolored", "sterile" and unengaging (lacking PRaT also). Some cable manufacturers are using bleached cotton as dielectric. These cables sound different: they have more natural dynamics, a mellower sound, more intimate soundstage, more tonal colors and so on. Are these differences mainly due to the dielectric material used? Why is for so many manufacturers PTFE still the ultimate dielectric for the use in audio cables?

Chris
dazzdax
steve60a5
11 posts
 
Scar

In the world of audiophile where isolation cones, cable lifters, contact enhancers are used, a oxidized conductor would not go over well.

Then I guess it's good that I only worry about what works best for me.

Oxidation shorten the life of a cable when it sound characteristic is changed due to oxidation, yes it does sound different.

Well, given that placing photographs of yourself in your freezer will make your system "sound different," you'll forgive me if I don't consider "sound different" to be of much worth with regard to issues such as the actual physical properties of a cable.

Now, if you could state what the actual change is and how it manifests itself in the signal, that would be helpful.

Your spools of bare copper wire laying around will probaly work for another 40 years, but the quality and sound won't be the same.

Ok, but why exactly would that be the case? What exactly changes beyond what I had said previously that the effective diameter of the wire is a few molecules smaller?

se
steve60a5
11 posts
 
Artizen65

Silver has a slightly higher frequency response than copper in the 20hz to 20khz range. Hence why some people perceive silver as being brighter than copper.

This doesn't make sense. Silver being slightly more conductive than copper will mean that skin effect will be slightly worse in a silver conductor than a copper conductor, all else being equal, and therefore have a slightly reduced high frequency response compared to copper.

So lets assume that skin effect exists in the upper frequency range of the audible band 20hz to 20khz. Other than preventing corrosion or oxidation of the conductor the dialectric should be selected for minimum interaction with the electrons in the conductor. It is this reason that air is the best dialectric.

It's not the electrons that the dielectric interacts with, at least not directly. It's the electric field that the dielectric interacts with.

se
sean
6,231 posts
 
The dielectric becomes more conductive / lossy over a period of time. As such, the electrons DO interact with the dielectric, both in terms of conductivity and magnetic field. The measurements that i mentioned above pertain directly to this subject. Sean
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tgrisham
1,291 posts
 
If the issue is that the dialectric potentially changes the sound, and oxidation of copper potentially changes the sound, wouldn't pure copper wire covered in something to prevent shorting, and oxidation, be ideal? Where do the Speltz anti-cables fit into this discussion?
steve60a5
11 posts
 
Sean

The dielectric becomes more conductive / lossy over a period of time. As such, the electrons DO interact with the dielectric, both in terms of conductivity and magnetic field. The measurements that i mentioned above pertain directly to this subject.

Well, since you didn't provide any information whatsoever about your measurements, there's no way to evaluate your claim.

se
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